Egypt/Theories
=Egyptian Influence= The fact that names of Egyptian Gods appear in the show as main characters of the island suggests that the Island was the SOURCE of these names and mythology - RA = Richard Alpert and Horace = Horus are therefore not coincidences; rather the Island is/was/will be sent back to ancient times where these names and characters will become part of a shared mythology that evolves and moves or disperses to Egypt in late antiquity. * Jacob states that the Tawaret Statue was there when he got there, and so we assume that the Egyptians had left when he was there. But strong evidence points to the idea that maybe the Egyptians were still living on the island while Jacob was. For one thing, there is a hieroglyphic marking in Smokie's lair of the Monster being summoned by Anubis, but the Smoke Monster wasn't created until long after Jacob and MiB arrived. Lots of people have overthought this and assumed that Smokie was there before MiB, which the creators of the show have been personally denied. Also, when MiB was building the wheel, there were no hieroglyphics in the room...but when it's visited by Ben or Locke there are. So unless the Egyptians left and then came back, we have to assume that they were on the island a lot longer than we assumed. * The ancient Egyptians found a reverse way through the exit and implanted their culture there. * Egypt does seem to be important to the plot of Lost. There's the hieroglyphics everywhere, the statue appears to be Anubis, the Ankh symbol, Hurley's painting, etc. Maybe this also ties into it, or maybe not. But in the season one episode "Special" in one of the flashbacks Walt remarks "Why can't we read about the birds of Egypt?" * The Island is the origin of the Ancient Egyptians ala the "Lost" City of Atlantis. * Ancient Egyptians were well known for the use of "eyeliner" tatoos. Richard Alpert was mentioned as wearing eyeliner. * The statue on the island looks Egyptian Horace *The name Horus is translated as "one who is above, over." Coincidence that the leader (the one who is above) of the members of DHARMA is also named Horace? Horus fought with the Egyptian god Set (or Seth) for the throne of Ancient Egypt... a possible parallel to Ben's overthrow of Horace via the Purge in order to "control the throne?" (aka: be the leader of the people inhabiting the Island...in this case, The Others) **Paul, the previous husband of Horace's wife Amy, was wearing an ankh when he died. When read as a hieroglyph, the ankh means "eternal life." Ben *The name "Ben" could relate to the Ancient Egyptian Benben stone, found in the solar temple of Heliopolis. Often seated upon a Benben stone is the benu bird, the inspiration for the Phoenix, a bird which periodically dies, then rises from its own ashes to be born anew. Coincidence or reference to Ben Linus' ability to also "rise from the ashes" (the "ashes" being the end of the Dharma Initiative after The Purge, from which Ben arose as leader of The Others)? ** Also, more directly could be a reference to Ben's "resurrection" at the temple.